Under the Tuscan Sun (and Moon) – A Beautiful Destination Wedding

A few weeks ago, my dear friends Rosey and Barry Chase, traveled to Tuscany for their nephew’s wedding. A “destination” wedding in Tuscany.  It sounded fabulous…and, indeed it was!   After seeing the photos from the wedding, I was practically crying at the end.  The beauty of love and the occasion was overwhelming.  You could just sense it!   So, I asked Rosey (Dr. Lyons by day — a professor of English at Columbia Green Community College) if she would write a blog for our website.   How could our readers not be interested in such a fabulous wedding?  I’m hoping you will be.  Enjoy your trip to Tuscany for this wonderful family wedding! [click any photo to enlarge] — Joan

Tuscany in May does echo our Pine Plains neighborhood.

Those were my first thoughts when we first arrived at our villa at La Selva on May 21.   The blue sky, the woodland uplands, and the rolling landscape all seemed familiar. The open fields of oats too seemed like home, though their color was bluer than ours at this date.   The weather remained nearly perfect, with one day of some dark clouds and a few sprinkles of rain.

My husband Barry and I were on a family adventure.  My sister’s son and his fiancée were to marry in the tiny town of Montebenichi’s church on May 27.   The preparations must have been immense.

There were the three villas to select and the jobs to be assigned. For the wedding service, the bride and groom had to learn the selections from Candide, which they sang to each other.  Violinists and a cellist were part of the mass, and a choir included the bride’s sister and brothers and was conducted by the bride’s dear college friend.

There was the banner with silhouettes of the bride and groom to be hung on the side of one villa; the cards to be hung at each room’s door with our names; and, at last, after the superb meal at the estate of the owner of the villas, after the dancing, as we left, there were the luminaria bags – each etched with a silhouette of the bride and groom.

Exquisite also were lanterns around the two long wedding tables; each had rose petals at its base, and lit the glade where we dined.   There was the full moon shining as wedding guests left the yard.

There were red roses climbing against brick walls and the barbecued wild boar; there were the pecorino cheeses, the prosciuttos and salamis, unforgettable cantelopes, fabulous risotto, and wedding cake – delicate and moist, perhaps a Napoleon.

There were the two families together and the good friends – one from as early as third grade! There were the sisters of the bride and groom; each spoke elegantly and well.  An embarrassment of aunts – five – accompanied the mothers of the bride and groom!  The father of the bride gave a tour of the cathedral in Siena.

Fields of olive groves and vineyards swept away beyond us in Montebenichi. Wild boar made eerie sounds in the night and grazed in the horse pasture below the road.  Small deer relaxed in the oat field.

It was all magical and wonderful and I am so glad we could be part of it.

– Rosey Lyons Chase

[click thumbnail images to enlarge]